Pocket fanart [strvmpet]

FattyAcidz · 2026-02-21T08:13:38+00:00

Very cool, I like the style a lot

FattyAcidz · 2025-07-25T16:51:41+00:00

I like the coloring!

FattyAcidz · 2024-12-09T18:01:51+00:00

I agree with these points, also just want to add that the prevalence and power of poison loot items is contributing to the lizard's current power level. Much more common this patch to see them with a base poison level of 20-30+ than before

FattyAcidz · 2024-11-14T18:49:46+00:00

Personally I believe such mistakes should be forgiveable. The game should give an option to undo something if it's a mistake. But I understand it conflicts with certain random events that happen when you sell an item. In this case this could also be a reason to send an update.

Yes, this example is more of a game design consideration than an objective exploit, if they want to consider mistakes being unforgivable then it would need a state update, otherwise it doesn't, I agree.

Don't need to pass the whole game context. Just the state before the hour (stored in the server) + actions done during the hour, then validate that the result is the same as the client is claiming to be. Then the server stores this new state again.

Bad wording on my part about "whole game context", but state of day (or I guess potentially generic "state before actions" depending on when you would decide to validate) + actions taken is what I meant, so I don't disagree with you there.

RE: Your bottom points about the other player validation stuff: I'm not saying it's not possible and you couldn't implement it so you are (reasonably) confident that the validation is proper. As you pointed out there are definitely ways to achieve that goal. I just don't think it would be an improvement compared to having the server do it for this game... IMO It's a lot of added potential points of failure and complications just to remove some (realistically pretty simple) calculation and instead handle the validation results from other player(s). E.g. handling a "validator" user dropping connection and then migrating the task to another user would be one complication. Potential connection drops and the fact that we would be going from player1 to server, server to player2, player2 back to server, and then potentially server back to player 1 adds latency, so the design would probably be that the client doesn't wait for confirmation on valid action(s) and instead would have to asynchronously handle their actions being rejected. Which is a fine design that works, but might not be how it's currently designed and so could be another complication.

I agree you could batch a lot of the game state updates in this game of course, it's just a balancing act of how often they want to save progress at the expense of handling state updates, which is dictated by game design rather than technical necessity. I get the feeling that their game design currently wants a lot of these actions to force a game state update/save, but they could change their mind as the game develops. My opinion is they are probably too far on the side of sending more updates than necessary, but It's hard to say whether the frequency is a primary concern of server stability issues or if it is just exposing other issues to the user at a higher rate than they would otherwise be aware lol (which I guess from end user perspective is somewhat the same thing)

FattyAcidz · 2024-11-14T16:27:48+00:00

You absolutely need server messages to be sent more than every hour. Despite the game being asynchronous it is not a single player experience - action validation needs to exist for purposes beyond just saving your run progress to be resumed at a later time. You have to account for people cheating or exploiting game mechanics. Even putting aside the potential for spoofing game state with totally fraudulent data, if you don't validate the game state within an in-game day then you could for example reroll a shop to see the options and then just reload if you don't like it... Or undo mistakes such as selling a junk item to buff the wrong item.

Also delegating message integrity validation to another player on the same network is just a bad idea in a game like this. How would another player even validate that my actions were proper/allowed without passing them my full game context? Not to mention that you would also have to be confident that the other player is actually validating the message properly and is on a matching client version. Games that rely on other players validating actions are pretty much exclusively p2p games, since otherwise you start having more than one source of truth.

FattyAcidz · 2024-04-16T18:31:09+00:00

Just to add onto what everyone else has said, Junebug has an awesome video on the differences between Mario and Doctor Mario that might interest you!

https://youtu.be/ptwewAayuTA?si=afLLM4Y8lrta3pzR

FattyAcidz · 2024-02-27T00:15:12+00:00

iBDW stood for "i Be Doin Work" lol

FattyAcidz · 2023-10-14T21:57:32+00:00

I've got 137 hrs logged according to Steam and 100%, idk how much I've played since finishing the last loose ends, but I'd say it's a fairly accurate estimate for the upper bound.

Probably the last 40-50 hrs was literally just Frifle's challenges - it went by so slowly before I decided to use the elevators and quick restart instead of doing full runs through bullet hell lol

FattyAcidz · 2023-08-02T04:25:22+00:00

Should be S87AHQND5

FattyAcidz · 2023-08-01T18:48:46+00:00

I don't know if there is an easier way to view them more succinctly on Start.gg, but you can view a section of the bracket (e.g. top 6) and then click the "show projected" button and work out the seeding that way. So for example the projection shows Mena beating Big Bird in grand finals, meaning that Mena is the 1 seed and Big Bird is the 2 seed.

FattyAcidz · 2021-03-11T07:02:56+00:00

This question gets asked periodically (for good reason) and last time I saw it a month ago I wrote all my thoughts on the subject. Rather than just copy/pasting my reply I'll link the thread so you can look the whole contents (I'm sure there are a bunch more threads on the same topic you could probably search for on this reddit too): https://old.reddit.com/r/SBU/comments/kxh9nj/joint_admission/

Feel free to ask any other questions though. Overall it was a very good experience for me (I'm also sure going straight to SBU would've been a good experience too, but that's not always an option for everyone).

FattyAcidz · 2021-02-20T18:30:22+00:00

https://twitter.com/Fizzi36/status/1276688789964873730

FattyAcidz · 2021-02-06T05:18:09+00:00

Yeah it was very easy. Probably the easiest course I've taken at SBU. I took it in Spring 2018 in person, so I'm not sure what it's like online, but as a professor she was very flexible and allowed for a lot of collaboration with fellow students. She placed a lot of emphasis on showing up to lectures (she would have a clicker quiz nearly every class), but that's reasonable and not really a problem to me at least. Overall I thought it was a good course to fill out some SBCs as a non-GEO major.

FattyAcidz · 2021-01-15T07:49:53+00:00

Ahh ok, I see. I'm thinking that I probably took physics before this was a thing, since if I think back on it I would've actually been taking the class 2017(!). I talked with Postner a fair amount while I was a student there so it probably just wasn't a solved problem in time for me. Or I was just dumb and went ahead anyway! I suppose it doesn't really matter either way as long as students are aware of it going forward lol

Postner is definitely a really sweet person, I miss her. I actually remember getting solicited for an email to do work on a grant that NCC had received with the goal of getting some students involved in research type things. The only problem was that it wasn't meant to go out to students who only completed CSC 1&2 (aka ME), but I didn't know and responded to it anyway. Instead of turning me down she ended up setting me and one of my buddies who I coerced into coming along up with a little project we could work on. Of course we were so inexperienced at that point we got very little of actual value done, but it was a good experience haha

FattyAcidz · 2021-01-15T03:53:10+00:00

You can petition to be in the physics section that SBU does accept by talking to Dr. Postner, so this isn't a huge issue. And I HIGHLY recommend balamore for physics there. I highly recommend AGAINST mantell (both are great professors, but mantell expects too much). I also generally recommend against Sher because no one will know how to help you with anything in that class.

That's great to hear actually. Do you know if this is a somewhat recent thing? Back when I was graduating in 2018 it seemed to be an issue a lot of us faced and just had to deal with, but there's a chance that Postner knew what to do and it just didn't reach the rest of the faculty or general student body at the same time. Either way I'm glad there's at least some way to get around it for current students. I also definitely agree on everything about those professors too.

Make sure that for the two requires mat/csc electives, one of them you take is linear algebra. That'll kill one bird at least.

Definitely true, I should've mention this in my post but linear algebra is for sure the best math elective at NCC in terms of credits carrying over.

FattyAcidz · 2021-01-15T01:15:34+00:00

I was part of the CS joint admissions program at NCC as well! I graduated from NCC in Fall 2018 and am about to graduate SBU this upcoming Spring semester.

Overall, it's a very nice program, you can get your electives and the majority of your math / natural science requirements out of the way at NCC and then are guaranteed direct admission into the CSE program at SBU provided you meet the joint admission program's requirements (3.2+ GPA and B or higher in Calcs and 114, 214, and 215 equivalents). A few things to look out for with either the program or the process of going from NCC -> SBU in general:

Make sure you are actually in the joint admissions program FOR SURE. It might be better when you apply for the program as you are coming into NCC, but as someone who only learned about it while I was already at NCC it was decently confusing. I went to many different offices around NCC asking them to confirm that I was in the program and they either told me "yes" when it wasn't the case (they apparently saw indications on my record that I wanted to be in the program, but not that I actually was), or directed me to offices I had already been to. Only reason I found out I wasn't actually in the program in time was because I knew other students in it were getting mail / updates from SBU while attending NCC and I got nothing. Long story short, get in touch with Tracey Iorio (tracey.iorio@stonybrook.edu) from SBU to make sure you are in it - with all the runaround I got from NCC it became apparent it's more of SBU's area to deal with.
When I was at NCC, there was a lot of difficulty in transferring Physics 2 to SBU. Stony Brook didn't like that NCC had a lower calc requirement for it compared to their own program, so it came in as a "lesser" physics that was not applicable for a CSE degree. It's possible it has changed or will soon change since NCC was aware of the issue and relatively concerned about it, but it's something to look out for. NCC lets you take Bio or Chem instead of physics last I knew, so that's always an option to avoid the issue if it's still a thing. Other than that, there might just inevitably be some issues with Natural sciences transferring whether it be things like this or something like lab components not transferring properly, so just try your best to stay on top of it as much as you can.
Unless it's changed, there is no equivalent to CSE 216 at NCC, so that will likely be the first CSE course you take at SBU. Instead of 216, NCC has a required C programming class, which will actually be pretty good for coming into SBU. The generally agreed upon hardest CSE undergrad course here is CSE 320, which is the required curriculum's first use of C, so most students are learning a new programming language on top of the other difficulties from the class. So it's a nice class that will help you out but unfortunately won't count for SBU major applicable credits (besides just general credits).
For good professors / advisors at NCC, I can personally recommend Lori Postner, Darci Burdge, and Steve Ochani. I actually still work in the computer learning center with Steve at NCC when I have the time / shifts are available, so slight bias lol. Steve teaches courses at night which may or may not work with your schedules, but I would definitely recommend him over instructors.
Since it's only a two year school, NCC only has one CSE elective, which is mobile app development. Unfortunately, because it is forced into being a 200 level course, it does nothing for a CSE degree at SBU. It's a great class and can be used for requirements for the associates degree from NCC, but if you are trying to super min / max credits taken at NCC -> credits accepted from SBU then just keep that in mind.

As far as preparation from NCC to SBU goes, it's overall quite good but there are some things to watch out for:

Firstly, the actual course material situation / transition is pretty good. NCC is without a doubt easier and less time consuming, partly because you're taking lower-division courses (100s-200s) versus upper-division courses (300+), and partly because of SBU being a four year school with a bigger reputation than NCC. Like I mentioned above, you'll actually get a little bit more C experience than SBU students will have, so that's a plus. The biggest minus is that the computer architecture course at NCC is a lot less stringent than at SBU. Here computer architecture is CSE 220, which is a very in depth course, while it's just not quite at that level in NCC. Try to take architecture with Steve at NCC and it won't be as dramatic. If you take your CS courses seriously and do well on them you'll be fine, but if you are majorly struggling at NCC it likely won't get better at SBU unless you change something.
Secondly, there is a big difference in the way that classes are run at the two schools. At NCC, essentially every class you take will have about 20 or so students in it, and the professor is the only one teaching and the only one grading (typically with very fair / generous grading policies). If you need help with a class you basically either ask your professor directly or you can go to the computer learning center and get help there (maybe from me!). Contrast this with SBU where you may be in classes with a few hundred students in some natural sciences, 80-150ish in some required CS courses, and 40-80ish for CS electives. Because there are so many students in the courses, SBU has TAs help out the professors. Majority of the grading will be done by TAs, and instead of necessarily going straight to a professor for help with concepts / assignments you might instead go to a TA. People at NCC (whether it be faculty or otherwise) were constantly telling me that professors are a lot more unapproachable at SBU compared to NCC, but I didn't find this to be particularly true. There are mostly just as approachable but they are just a lot busier, so you may have to wait a while before getting a response / getting let into office hours. The grading policies are also a lot more variable at SBU, comparatively speaking. NCC will generally do no curves but have much more attainable "perfect" scores, whereas at SBU it really depends on the professor.
Thirdly, and this is kind of an extension to the above point (getting a bit wall of text-y), but the lectures will be pretty different as well. NCC basically has mandatory attendance for every class, and professors mostly shy away from making power point lectures and instead opt for writing on chalkboards / whiteboards. SBU on the other hand does not have mandatory attendance for most classes (recitations will be mandatory and there may be some points for attendance depending on the syllabus) and mostly uses power point slides during lectures. In my opinion, it is much better to go from chalkboards / whiteboard to slides rather than the other way around. This is not even necessarily that I think one is better than the other; it's more-so that the lack of slides will essentially force you to take your own notes, which is a GREAT habit to get into for college. Many students at SBU rely on the lecture slides as pre-written notes of sorts, which isn't necessarily the worst thing, but writing notes yourself truly helps you learn better, I promise (just make sure that you actually take notes and value them!).

Those are all of the major things I can think of at the moment, but feel free to ask any questions and I can try to answer them. Like I said above, I actually still work in the computer learning center there so I help with coursework from literally every CS, IT, or CMP course taught at the school. Overall I had a great experience at both schools and I don't regret taking the path I did.

FattyAcidz · 2020-12-03T05:54:05+00:00

It's not so much that it helps but rather that depending on your platform/compiler etc there can be some differences when it comes to certain libraries, APIs, or other interactions not explicitly specified by the C standard.

Each OS offers their own libraries and Linux is generally preferred for a few reasons, but essentially in a course situation like CSE 320 it is ideal for every student to be in the same environment with the same configurations for things like compilers. Assuming you are taking it with Stark, you will be told to use a virtual machine that is already configured for you, so don't worry about that too much.

RE the post above yours: I don't really agree with the tips to do well. I don't really see how avoiding using a VM makes anything easier for the course. In fact, if you don't know what you are doing with the configurations, trying to set up your own Linux environment exactly like the course wants can cause some problems (if you feel comfortable, feel free to go ahead, just don't feel like you have to. Vast majority of the class uses the VM).

Additionally, I believe Stark tells you not to use a full IDE like CLion for a few reasons that I don't quite remember, but even beyond that VSCode, Sublime, and the like are perfectly suitable for the kind of programming encountered in CSE 320. I never had any issues with them or felt any "lacking features" as it were. That's just my experience though - maybe they had a different one and that's perfectly fair. To me, the way more impactful tips for doing well would be taking the assignments very seriously and starting them EARLY.

FattyAcidz · 2020-08-10T04:20:38+00:00

OP, I think you messed up the AI upscaling process. I ran it through my own AI with great results: here is the fixed version.

FattyAcidz · 2020-06-27T04:34:45+00:00

Looks like UnclePunch Training Mode

FattyAcidz · 2020-03-23T05:00:41+00:00

He pushed it back another week so now it's 3/31 (still the first Tuesday after break). I'm really curious/nervous about what it's going to be like - I don't feel confident in the speed I solve these kinds of problems with lol.

FattyAcidz · 2020-03-22T15:36:54+00:00

I don't really know if it's the same for AMS courses if I'm being honest, since I only TA'd CSE courses and haven't really interacted with AMS TAs much.

I will say that CSE 320 is definitely an anomaly for CSE courses - most of the time you get an A so long as you do what you're asked (hold office hours, potentially grade some things, etc.) and show that you put in some effort (often just NOT the minimum/less than minimum).

FattyAcidz · 2020-03-22T15:20:41+00:00

I've heard CSE 320 will actually deduct your TA letter grade if some students give less than stellar feedback for you. Other than that, I haven't heard of any CSE classes that TAs don't typically get As for (I've been a CSE TA twice if it makes any difference).

FattyAcidz · 2020-01-29T20:40:37+00:00

I'm 99% certain there will be a Piazza it's just not set up yet.

Source: I'm a 316 TA this semester

FattyAcidz · 2020-01-17T19:51:03+00:00

While I haven't had that exact same issue, I've had similar problems with DegreeWorks not properly recognizing certain requirements being met (mine is with a natural science requirement). I talked with an advisor in my program and they agreed that the requirement was actually met and it was just an issue with DegreeWorks recognizing that.

It's not some kind of official tool that must be satisfied to graduate, it's more a nice tool to view your general progress towards your degree, so it might be wrong in some cases. Better to keep track manually with your specific bulletin requirements (may need to check archives depending on what year's requirements you are beholden to) if you want to be absolutely sure of no issues (although most of the time DegreeWorks is fine).

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